Newsletter

Senate panel OKs two gambling bills

Actions could restart gaming fights

TALLAHASSEE -- Two measures changing the rules of the game for gambling interests in the state passed the Senate Regulated Industries Committee on Wednesday, potentially kicking off a new round of gambling fights in this year's session.

It's not clear whether the odds are in favor of either bill; Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, was largely ambivalent about both when asked about them Wednesday, and neither bill's House companion has been scheduled for a hearing yet.

The most fiercely contested of the two bills would remove the requirement that greyhound tracks actually offer live dog races in order to operate a card room. That bill (SB 1594) cleared the panel on a 7-5 vote.

Sen. Maria Sachs, the Delray Beach Democrat who sponsored the measure, said greyhound racing was "a dying industry in this state," and track operators had a better chance at staying in business if they could provide card games while holding fewer races -- or none at all. Sachs also said that dogs were in some cases being treated more poorly as revenues drop off for the races -- and the dogs become less central to the business.

"These dogs are running all the time -- all the time -- in order for the track to maintain a profitable card room," she said.

The bill was opposed by a hodge-podge coalition of gambling opponents and supporters of dog breeders and owners, though critics largely focused on how the changes would affect linked industries.

Jack Cory, a lobbyist for the Florida Greyhound Association, said the bill would prompt track operators to get rid of dog races entirely -- gutting the $50 million-a-year industry and shutting down hundreds of dog breeders and owners.

"If this bill were to reduce it or eliminate (the racing requirement), you would have a very, very difficult situation for the 3,000 Florida families and the greyhounds," Cory said.

The committee also approved a measure (SB 812) allowing intrastate Internet gambling on a 10-2 vote. Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, said many Floridians are already using the Internet to gamble; legalizing the games would merely make them safer and allow the state to draw in tax dollars from them.